Jareth, The Shoe Salesman
by BewilderedFemale
Summary: You will never look at shoe shopping the same way again :o Jareth/Sarah One-Shot


**AN: A one-shot that came to me while having a PM with Condiotti. Inspired by a shoe-shopping trip I took and having the hottest guy help me out ^_^**

"**Jareth the shoe salesman"**

Sarah needed a new pair of shoes badly.

Her everyday comfortable black flats had had their sole split in two while she was out to lunch with some friends during her break from work, quite embarrassing but not unexpected since she wore the shoes almost every day for the past six months.

_Where in the world am I going to get shoes as stylish and comfortable as those? I was lucky to find those in the sale rack, but what are the chances of something like that happening again?_

The afternoon dragged on and the pile of work on Sarah's desk seemed to grow ever higher. Why did people wait until Friday to load her up with last minute work? It infuriated her that she worked with such irresponsible people, who called themselves professionals, but it was job security, and she liked to have nice things, so she certainly was not in a situation to complain.

Being a self driven woman who had never had luck with romance, she needed to support herself, and so far she had done a pretty decent job of doing so even if at times it got very lonely. She had gotten so use to it in fact that gorgeous guys would look her way and she wouldn't even so much as give them a second glance, why spoil a good thing?

Finally, Sarah was at a good stopping point from her work, and she gathered her designer hand bag and headed out to her black BMW sedan. She loved her car; it drove like butter; not to mention the sound quality that enveloped her when she connected her iphone was exquisite.

She parked away from others, still paranoid that someone might chip the paint job on her new car; she could do with the exercise and walk to the store anyway.

Unaware of anything other than the shoes on display, she opened the heavy glass door that led inside and suddenly came face to face with the most handsome man she had ever seen in her entire life.

She stood frozen except for her eyes that traveled from his wild blonde hair, to his mis-matched eyes, to his sultry lips, all the way down to his gorgeous well formed body.

When she realized who it was, her mouth went dry and her heart raced fiercely.

"JARETH?"

"Sarah my dear, fancy meeting you here."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, finally bringing her hand over her mouth to try and disguise the shock a bit.

Jareth raised an eyebrow at her.

"Wha..wha.. what are you doing here Jareth?"

Jareth casually pointed towards his name tag as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Naturally my dear, I work here."

Sarah's jaw dropped.

"YOU? Work here? In the above ground? What on earth for?"

He started to walk around her. "So many questions Sarah, and none of them pertaining to shoes which…. " He looked down at the broken one's she was still wearing. "Which desperately need replacing."

"Yes well, that is why I'm here."

"Excellent! And are we looking for something similar to replace those, or shall we pick out a pair that will show off those gorgeous legs of yours?"

Sarah's eyes shot open, and her stomach somersaulted at his comment.

Jareth merely smirked and led the way to the back of the store where the women's shoes were at.

"Nevermind, I will show you both. Now, for your height and size, this black strapped stiletto is not only stylish but it has built in cushioning so you wont be worn out while your at the office, and yes, we do carry them in size 8."

"How did you?.."

"Also.." Jareth continued. "These emerald colored flats are not only fashionable, but they blend well with your skin tone, and these have an additional 30% off which you really shouldn't pass up since they are also available in a size 8."

All Sarah could do was stare at him in shock, she had finally lost her mind. It was the only logical conclusion, and now she was in a shoe store taking fashion advice from Jareth the goblin king.

"Right well, I'll go to the back to get the proper size and we'll see how they fit. You can sit in that bench there, I'll be right back."

Sarah did as instructed, the look of shock still plastered on her face when he came back with a couple boxes of shoes.

"I found these peach colored heels that I think you should try on, see how they look on you."

Jareth kneeled in front of Sarah and started to take off her shoe, but she jumped back in surprise. "What in the world are you doing?"

"What does it look like Sarah? I'm helping you try on these shoes."

She went to take the shoe away from him. "No, I can do it myself!" He quickly turned away from her. "Now, what kind of a shoe salesman would I be if I didn't at least help you try them on? Let me do my job Sarah."

"But.." Jareth had already slipped off her shoes, and was placing the black strapped stiletto's on. The way his fingers gently took hold of her foot left her breathless. She knew he was purposely taking his time placing the shoe on her foot.

Finally, Jareth backed a way a bit. "Walk around in them, see how they feel."

She did as instructed and not only were they comfortable, but they looked amazing on her. She practically gushed when he held up a mirror and she saw how she looked them when she walked. She also noticed that they did show off her legs, the man definitely had an eye for fashion.

"And now the emerald ones."

True to his word, the color looked striking on her, and they were comfortable and stylish enough to wear casually and to work.

Finally, he helped her try on the peach colored heels, his hands lingering for longer than necessary again. His fingertips gently grazing her soft skin.

The shoes screamed spring time, and she could totally envision herself wearing them with a cream colored skirt suit she owned.

"I'll take all of them!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Excellent, come this way and I'll check you out." He gave her a smirk and she blushed at the double meaning of his expression.

He was scanning the bar code on her first pair when he realized she was starring intently at him, he smirked in response. "I can hear the wheels turning from here. What is on your mind?"

"What are you doing here Jareth?"

"My dear, I've told you; I work here."

"Since when does a king need to make ends meet by working at a shoe store?"

"Ah, but I didn't say it was because I needed to make ends meet, besides; your money is of no value to me. Just as that hand bag and that nice car you have outside is of no value to you either. What do you have Sarah? Other than your material possessions? What do you own that you love and will love you back in return?"

She stayed starring at him, thinking and re-thinking the truth of his statement.

"I.. I have nothing. I may be rich in possessions but in reality I am poor. I work night and day to cover the emptiness that is my life. I talk with people of high stature and we converse about our degrees and where we went to school. How we have worked so hard to get to where we are now but I know that it can be taken away from me in the blink of an eye."

"How does that make you feel Sarah?"

She thought about it for a moment, thinking of the one word that would wrap up all the feelings into one.

"Bitter."

She had no idea why she had just revealed such personal information to him. When they had met all those years ago, it had not been on friendly terms, especially after she had rejected his offer. She couldn't help but feel that she could be honest with him though, especially since she showed her a type of concern no one else had.

Jareth gave her a long look before going back to scanning her shoes.

"With your discount, total comes to $73.62 " He took out a large bag and began placing the boxes in them.

"So, how long are you working here till? Maybe I'll stop by again and we can have lunch, my treat."

She couldn't believe that she had just asked him out, what was he doing to her?

He looked up momentarily and smiled as he went back to taking her credit card and running it through the machine.

"I have to go back after tonight."

When she saw he was not going to elaborate, she asked: "So… this is your final night working here? I thought this store just opened?"

"As you so brightly observed, I do have a kingdom to run, this was a one time thing that you just happened to drop in on."

He handed her back the credit card and waited for the machine to print out her receipt.

"So that's it? No threats to get me back to the underground? No pleads or renewals of past proposals?"

Jareth cocked his head to the side, "My dear, why would I do that?"

She threw her hands up exasperated at his calm demeanor. "What do you mean why? I just told you I'm bitter and all the money I make doesn't make me one damn bit happier! Aren't you going to sweep me away in the promise to show me real happiness? I know there has got to be a reason why my sole split in two and you just happen to be here the same day!"

He watched her rant and was smiling the entire time.

"Is that what you want Sarah? For me to take you away from your life of emptiness? You do realize you can never come back. You would be mine, and under the submission of the laws of my kingdom, are you really willing to part with your world for mine?"

"Listen Jareth, there haven't been many occasions in my life where I can honestly say I felt loved and thoroughly appreciated, but I did feel that in the underground when I was with Ludo, Hoggle, and Didymus. Despite my foolish behavior towards you at the time, I did find you quite… endearing."

Jareth raised an eyebrow in shock.

"Did you really? Do tell."

"That time when you backed me up into the corner when we were in the oubliette, I wanted nothing more than for you to kiss me right then and there. You've no idea how I've fantasized about the things that could've happened in that little nitch.."

Jareth audibly groaned at her response.

"My dear, I had no idea you felt that way, especially after you rejecting me."

"I thought that my accepting you would mean losing Toby, and I couldn't have that, you must understand how I have lived to regret not having let you know what you truly meant to me."

Jareth nodded and came around the counter to face her. "I do, I have known for some time now, which is why I'm giving you a second chance now to come back if you're ready to give up your life of false happiness.

Sarah looked directly into his mis-matched eyes. "I agree on the terms that you take me immediately to the oubliette and back me up in that corner. After all.." She gave him a sexy grin.

"I never did give you a straight answer when you asked me how I was enjoying your labyrinth."

Jareth wrapped his arms around her. "It seems that we have some unfinished business to attend to then."

Sarah in turn wrapped her arms around him. "Lead the way."

There was a sudden pop, and then they were gone. The only indication to show that Jareth had been there was the shower of glitter he had left behind.

**Hurray for second chances!**


End file.
